Celebs to make movies on AIDS

Top moviemakers Mira Nair, Farhan Akhtar, Santhosh Sivan and Vishal Bhardwaj have joined hands to make short films on HIV- AIDS.

Top moviemakers Mira Nair, Farhan Akhtar, Santhosh Sivan and Vishal Bhardwaj on Monday joined hands to make short but "informative and entertaining" films on HIV- AIDS to spread awareness about the disease.

They will make four 12-minute films, featuring upcoming and established actors like Irrfan Khan, Sameera Reddy, Raima Sen, Shiny Ahuja, Prabu Deva and Saroja Devi, which will hit the theatres as early as in September.

The short films, a joint initiative of Nair's Mirabai films, voluntary organisations Avahan and Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, will highlight the social stigma attached to HIV-AIDS besides putting the spotlight on its prevention.

With critically-acclaimed films like MonsoonWedding and SalaamBombay to her credit, Nair feels the short films starring movie actors will attract cine-goers and help spread the message more effectively.

The idea is to make entertaining clips on AIDS and not to preach. "We do not want to bore them, but to entertain them to subtly convey the message that we all have to feel responsible towards the disease," Bhardwaj said.